Beyond The Basics- Knowledge of the will of God: Wife

Sermon: Beyond The Basics- Knowledge of the will of God: Wife
Bible Reading: Colossians 1:3-13 & 3:18

1. The Colossian Christians had:

(a) Faith in Christ Jesus (1:4a)
(b) Love for fellow Christians (1:4b)
(c) A transformed life (1:6)

2. Paul desires that the Colossian Christians might

(a) Go beyond faith, love, and transformation
(b) Be filled with the knowledge of the “will of God” in all spiritual wisdom and understanding (1:9) which makes connection between their faith and daily life

3. The knowledge of the will of God with regard to wife’s role in a marriage (3:18)

(a) The knowledge one gains from the Scripture with regard to wife is:
(a1) Ezer (Genesis 1:18), complement (Genesis 2:21-22), partner with her husband to fulfill “be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth” (Genesis 1:28)
(a2) To be a metaphorical representation of Israel and the church
(b) In the relationship between husband and wife, the “will of God in spiritual wisdom and understanding” is that she submits voluntarily to her husband (opposite of “submission” is the result of the curse cf. Genesis 3:16)
(b1) Submission is not inequality OR slavery OR inferiority OR becoming lesser beings
– How does “voluntary submission” not look?
– How does “voluntary submission” look?
(b2) It is the model of the Son (1 Corinthians 15:28) [. . . When he has done this, then the Son himself will be made subject to him who put everything under him, so that God may be all in all]
(b3) Submission of wives to husbands is grounded in theology—it mirrors the church’s submission to Christ (cf. Ephesians 5:24)—“as is fitting in the Lord”—to reach a point of connection (appropriate/orderly)
(b4) Wife does not submit in order to satisfy her husband’s vanity or to promote his reputation
(b5) Neither does she submit to show how godly she is, nor to avoid conflict, nor to manipulate their husbands, but
(b6) She submits because it is part of the “knowledge of the will of God in spiritual wisdom and understanding” so that
(b7) She will be able to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord (1:10) and fully pleasing to Him, which results in
(c) Bearing fruit in her relationship with her husband
(c1) How does bearing fruit not look?
(c2) How does bearing fruit look?

Take Away

Look constantly to Jesus Christ in the Trinity and imitate Him in your relationship with your husband